'We've learned from this'

Communications officials to revisit protocol after church fiasco

Teens: This does not define us

Teens who attend Steamboat Christian Center's weekly youth group said they are concerned about perceptions of the group based on Wednesday's incident.

"We are a very welcoming and loving group," said Carter Moore, a sophomore at Christian Heritage School. "It's a breath of fresh air and something I look forward to as soon as I get out of school on Wednesday."

Devon Barker, a home-schooled senior, said the group is one of the strongest in the Yampa Valley, attracting between 75 and 100 teens.

"What happened Wednesday does not define us," he said. "We have done mission work in Mexico and are planning trips to Israel and an Indian reservation, in addition to the ongoing community service and food drives we do."

Fifteen-year-old Kaydee Peckham agreed.

"Our youth program gives teenagers something to do besides party," Peckham said. "It teaches respectable morals and leadership and creates an environment where there are no outcasts."

Barker said Wednesday's skit, meant to send a message about how to deal with fear, was one creative example of using alternatives to reach teens, a technique the group often utilizes.

"(Steamboat Christian Center) doesn't just recite some boring message and send everyone home," said attendee Lainie Thorsen. "They help teens with their everyday life problems and change lives for the better."

Steamboat Springs  Routt County Communications officials will revisit its policies and procedures in light of a church skit that left some children and adults fearing for their safety.

The skit, which was performed during a weekly meeting of Steamboat Christian Center's youth group "Elev8," involved an actor who was posing as a homeless man with a gun. Some members of the youth group, which consists of about 100 teens, were not aware the gun was fake and reportedly dove under chairs thinking what was happening during the skit was real.

Jake Hothem, a youth pastor with Steamboat Christian Center, said on Thursday that he called Routt County Communications earlier to inform them of the nature of the skit and not to be concerned if they received 911 calls reporting the event.

The skit, which Hothem said got out of control, was not intended to focus so heavily on the use of the fake gun.

"We were more concerned about people calling a suspicious person because our homeless actor was pretty convincing," he said.

Dispatcher Sharon Clever on Friday said the center did not receive any 911 calls as a result of the skit Wednesday night, and only fielded one call from a concerned mother at about 9:15 p.m., which two Steamboat Springs police officers mediated.

Regardless, officials will examine protocol for handling routine test drills, lockdowns and skits in the future because of the situation.

"In the past, we've never questioned people calling in letting us know what's going on," she said. "With all of this occurring those are concerns we will be addressing with our new director. It's an unfortunate incident that is making us look harder at our policies."

Routt County Communications has been without a director since Faith Mendoza resigned in November. A new director begins next week.

Steamboat Springs police Capt. Joel Rae said there was a lack of communication with the police department.

"None of our officers knew what was going on," he said. "That's a huge concern to us because obviously we want to know what the heck is going on especially when it's something involving something as serious as this, or the perception of something as serious as this."

The lack in communication could have resulted in someone being injured if an officer had responded to the church and not known the skit was fake.

Routt County Manager Tom Sullivan said protocol will be put in place to mitigate anything like this from happening in the future.

"However experienced or inexperienced the dispatcher was who received the call from (Hothem), they weren't mindful of the incident," he said. "We'll make sure there is protocol in place for our dispatchers to follow in handling these types of calls - including informing the police."

Who failed to communicate--Routt County Communications? Why wasn't this all investigated before yesterday's article in the Today--in big headlines on the first page? Who oversees RC Communications? Seems like a lot of "officials"/reporters "jumped the gun" on this situation (pardon the pun). Our teen also reported Jake told the "gunman" not to hurt the kids--take him (Jake) but not to harm the kids. Nothing has been said about the multitude of good this group does--it's a shame that only "bad things" get reported.

Perhaps this group, through Jake's leadership, is giving the "officials" of Routh County a "learning experience." Hopefully, everyone WILL learn something from this.

I was one of the many teens there that night. It was a learning experience for those of us who didn't know it was a re-enactment. That night we dealt with such a real thing that we realized how much we loved God and how much we loved the earth... to live. It opened our eyes I view things differently now and so do may of my friends. I never thought it would happen but, it did that night even though it was not real.
Qwendolyn: God is not a safe haven he runs the world we live in and if we choose to we can make our lives hell, or heaven and personally I choose heaven. Now, that may not be your choice. Yes, I do agree about "reality t.v." but, the church may be the safe haven. However, if you remember right (you may not), hostage situations can happen anywhere. They have happend in schools and in churches. Jake was just teaching that fear can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone.
My original fear turned to an incredible peacefulness once I forgot fear, left it behind and remembered there was squat I could do and God was with me.
Even tough I am a teenager and it wasn't real I witnessed some things that happend to the Bailey School District, and the Columbine School District when the greatest fear... death
hit them. Gwendolyn, come to our youth group meetings and experience the positive energy there. We meet every Wednesday at the Christian Center at 6:30 pm.
P.S. I have my parents' permission to post this--not only do I believe in communicating with God, we as a family also keep the lines of communication open between us.

I take serious issue with the liberal use of the word "skit" throughout these stories. Every definition of the word that I found contained the phrase "usually comical". I saw the aftermath of this event in my cousin, who collapsed on the couch crying from the stress of the situation he'd just endured. It was not comical. And it was not a skit to him. Skits are presented as such in church. "We're going to do a skit for you now to demonstrate this concept." It is my understanding from a kid who was there, that to these kids, the entire situation WAS real. No one in the room, except the youth minister, his friend ("the actor") and perhaps an adult or two knew that this was a "skit". It was not presented as such. They simply began the study as usual, when this "actor" wandered in and shortly thereafter pulled out a gun and threatened the people in the room. The situation lasted 30 to 45 minutes!!! 30 to 45 minutes, huddled under pews, crying, pondering impending death at a stranger's gunpoint. This is a serious situation! Only after the "actor" left, and the youth minister claimed friendship with him, did the situation start to seem like a skit, at which point...it's too late! Damage done. Nightmare in place. What's to explain?! Whatever the expressed purpose of this exercise was, what it achieved was to instill fear in the youth, not teach them to overcome it.
I have a serious issue with how the situation has been downplayed in the news, making it seem like the kids there overreacted to a situation they knew was fake, but the "actor" was so convincing that they began to be scared. The special section next to the latest article, dedicated to letting the church explain how "this does not define them" is frustrating. The members of the church who seem to think that everyone is overreacting would perhaps have a different view if it had happened at a school or somewhere else. If their child had been in English class and a man wandered in, pulled a gun, terrorized the class for 30 minutes, then left and the teacher only THEN explained that this had been a skit...I guarantee there would be calls demanding that this teacher be fired. It is, under no circumstances, real or fake, OK to terrorize someone and make them think their life is in danger just to make a point, whatever it may be. Most intelligent people are fully aware that in this post-9/11 and post-Columbine world, it is not just foolish, irresponsible, and non-Christian to terrorize people, especially children, but it is a criminal act!
And as for the above comment, that seems to credit this irresponsible and thoughtless youth minister with "giving the 'officials' of Routt County a 'learning experience'"...disgusting. This man taught no noble lesson. The lesson he was attempting (lamely) to teach that night, got away from him, and as a result, the only thing he accomplished was shock, confusion, terror and tears from his youth...I cannot imagine how strongly Jesus would denounce his actions!

I have followed this from out of state because I know some of the participants. Camo181, this might have been a real moment of revelation to you in your relationship with God, but there were youth in that room that do not have your maturity or apparent level of spiritual walk. They are not part of the 'family'. There are kids that were there that did not know God, and might never walk into a church again. Was the lesson to those on the 'inside' in their understanding of God worth the cost of those that might not ever ask again. Could the same lesson have been taught in a way that was inclusive of those that do not have that understanding?

I was one of the teens there that night and obviously none of you people got the whole story, there were actually alot of people knowing the incident (including me) and various other students that were told before the "skit" so none of us would go up and tackle him and beat him to a pulp. dont get me wrong it did get taken too far but this was no "SIMILAR TACTICS USED BY CULTS" at a church, and it also seems to me (comment above) you wouldnt step into a church period, it does hurt inside to read what you people have posted and being so narrowminded by the media and outside resourcess that you really never take time to know the whole story and to know what was trying to get across, Jake Hothem and the staff at that church are very loving and caring towards anyone and did not mean to take this so far that it would end up scaring the other students really bad. and it really is a shame for people to only see what wrong we have done at the church and none ever see what good goes on almost everyday.....

Unless you know more about cults and cult-recruiting and cult-formity behaviors, you don't really know much at all about how this event compares to what cults have done in the past (or, still do today).

What Jake was trying to get across is truly moot. The end did NOT justify the means and it would seem that Jake just did not think this one completely through.

Where did Jake receive his training to be a religous leader? What school of Biblical study did he graduate from?

What is Won by One Ministries and why is the website an advertising referral site?

sigh. did you wish to discuss the issue of judgemental perspective? or, address the event that went wrong? Lashing out at a concerned voice and declaring the individual without faith at all is certainly not the calm and retrospective thinking I would expect from a believer in God. Clearly, this event HAS emotionally impacted you, as you rush to the defensive without consideration of the concerns presented.

You're right. It is a shame. It should not have occurred. Period. Go back to Jake and ask him why he felt he needed to use fear as a tool to bring children to God. What does he intend to do for the children who were traumatized? How do you make amends for something this grievous?

I repeat: Intentional infliction of emotional distress to exact an outcome from a targeted individual is a form of brainwashing.

I go to my faith freely and with a clear mind of the choice I have made. Willingly, and without fear. I wish I could say the same of the children of this ministry.

Gwendolyn, thank you! You've taken every angry thought I've had and made sense of it. PLEASE write a letter to the editor or something that will have a wider readership than this. (Especially since it seems to now be hidden on the site to where you have to search for it...)

This community needs to spend more time thinking on this issue! The news has let it pass too soon. It has been pushed aside and ignored by citizens who would be outraged if they had received all the facts. Your calm, reasoned perspective is a breath of fresh air in this madness. PLEASE...

This is NOT the org of Jake Hothem. The links I posted are distinctly his. The above link is registered to someone in NY. There are a lot of people online using the tag "Won by One" -- but only the links I provided go to Jake.

Please take a step back and realize that the two people that you are addressing are teenagers, jr high and high school students. They are baby christians and such they do not need such high moralizing and questioning from you of their faith. I had two children in attendance and I know that they do not have any long term scars from this incident. My children know this kind of "real" life thing goes on all the time. They were both strong enough in their faith to know that if it was not their time, God would take care of them, other wise if it was their time, they were ready. The person that is mainly responsible for their strong faith is Jake. He taught them about Jesus's love and how mountains could be built from a grain of sand! He took a small group of teenagers, maybe a dozen, and built the Won by One Ministry. Now that Ministry is over 100 strong! Is there any other youth minister in Steamboat, or Routt County, that has that large of a Christian based youth group. These are not cult members. You will see them involved in church on any given Sunday, teaching Sunday school or working with other children. They do food drives and go to Youth Ralley and are truly committed young christians. Most of these children have signed an agreement that they will not drink, do drugs or have sex before marriage. In a time when parents are having a tough enough time reaching teenagers, it is a blessing to know that there are people who are out there that will step out of the box and put themselves in this position.
As far as what Jesus would think about Jake's action, there were plenty of people that during his life and even now question his actions on a daily basis. I'm sure Jake prayed long and hard before and since this all happened. I'm sure that he is has had some long talks with his Lord and made everything right with him. You see I think he is a loving forgiving Father who, while we all make mistakes because we are human, will forgive us for them if we ask! If you question Jake's or the Won by One Ministry, then you should get in there and try to reach these children, instead of trying to shut down some one who is.

(cont)
As far as the Comp Center, they could have got somebody just as hurt. What if this had been a gunman and he called the comp center and said he would be doing this "skit" not to respond to any 911 call! Plan worked because they didn't! No tones or alerts were sent out. Any one who knows an officer may have a home phone or cell number and could have called and an officer, who in turn could have shown up, with real drastic effects. God must have been in the house!
I do believe that God works in mysterious ways. Now if that gunman shows up in Routt Co, calls the comp center and tells them he is putting on a skit, not to respond, the comp center will be on alert. The flaw that was in the system will have been fixed because Jake thought outside the box. I think maybe Jesus would be patting him on the back, and saying "Well done brother!"

I am fully aware that children have posted to this forum. Hence, the level of writing I presented in response. I have a teenage son and thought carefully how I would question him and open a thoughtful discussion up with him before I posted my messages. My son is a pretty smart kid who is extremely savvy about the world around him. Based on their postings, I bet these kids are smart and savvy too.

Any child interested and capable of writing the messages posted above, is a child capable of entering into an intelligent dialogue examining the concerns of adults, like me, who have many, many questions regarding this event.

As for your posting, I read it with deep curiosity, as I noted not a single answer to any of my queries. A lot of defensive posturing but not a single answer in sight.

Perhaps it would be best if Jake -- or any of his advisory team or board members -- could answer these questions???

On another note, I was surprised to read your following comment:

"As far as what Jesus would think about Jake's action, there were plenty of people that during his life and even now question his actions on a daily basis."

As far as I know, Jake isn't Jesus. To compare the historical text of the new testament and the prevailing perspective of Jesus at that time to Jake's actions in this matter are a bit odd. I've never put ANY ministerial servant of God on equal footing of religious persecution with Jesus and find it totally self-serving proselytization when others do so. That may be harsh, but it's what I feel.

As for the following statement you wrote:

"If you question Jake's or the Won by One Ministry, then you should get in there and try to reach these children, instead of trying to shut down some one who is."

I've raised 3 children and mentored hundreds over the last 20 years while giving service to a variety of nonprofit organizations. Giving service to youth is the best way I know to shape the future and is thoroughly enjoyable and costs me very little. Time and attention are the most valuable commodities adults can give to the youth around them.

Never, ever have I had to use 'fear' as a motivating factor. Nonetheless, it's hard to give service for that many years and not encounter fear somewhere along the route. Rather than stand by and watch them experience it, however, I would firmly do whatever it took to protect them from it, if I could.

Ten years ago I was involved with a project that helped young teens learn about this country's legislative process. They picked a cause they wanted to lobby for and worked for a year earning the money to go to Washington, D.C.

continued from previous posting:
About 1/2 of the dozen girls who went on this trip were Catholic and wanted to tour the Franciscan Monastery in D.C. -- a church that sits square in the middle of a crime ridden section of D.C. After putting it to a vote, 100% of the girls decided it would be a unique addition to their trip and it was added to the schedule.

After spending a beautiful 4th of July morning touring the Monastery and singing Christmas carols underground at their Grotto of Bethlehem, we walked to the courtyard to leave and were struck by profound quietude. I'm not even Catholic and it didn't matter one twit. My soul was embraced with love by the gentle monk who took us on that tour, joked with us over being the ONLY tourists there on the 4th of July, and convinced teenagers to sing Silent Night with the sweetest voices I have ever heard.

Not 10 minutes later we stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell ACROSS THE STREET FROM A POLICE PRECINCT and were promptly robbed. Cash, cameras, film, everything. But most of all, we were robbed of our sense of security and fear reigned hard and fast. Even so, no one was physically harmed. Just prematurely cheated of their childhood and sense of security in who they were and how safe they were, with or without the presence of adults. One event. A memory for a lifetime.

Do you know what the girls cried about the most? The pictures. All the pictures of the Monastery they had taken that morning were gone forever.

After much discussion over the events of the day, we all decided that we needed to capture the morning we loved and etch it into our memories -- writing over the top of the bad event of the afternoon. And pray. Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist. Those girls were a diverse group of good friends who stuck together through it all and grew immensely in the course of one day.

Meanwhile...I spent hours upon hours explaining it all to parents. I would NEVER wish that task on anyone. When bad things happen to people and family must be told, the individuals I admire the most are police officers, doctors, and clergy. It can be an unenviable, heart-breaking job.

No one should want to mimic events this traumatic to "send a message" or to build reliance and faith in God. No one. It's just wrong. Why would ANYONE want to put a child through this kind of trauma DELIBERATELY?

Bottom line: clearly we have different views on this ministry.

I am more than willing to accept the fact that these children have done many good things for this community and none of those activities are in question here.

The questions I have are identified in a previous posting (above) and I'm still waiting for the answers. Just because someone pops a tent up in an 'open field' and begins playing a delightful flute that has so many children dancing to his tune, does NOT mean we shouldn't also ask questions. Especially when an activity such as this one occurs that was simply irrevocably wrong.

Jake, you've raked open a wound in even me that I had made peace with a long, long time ago. Please write in and tell us that you will never, ever employ these tactics again in your ministry. Please.

I am truely sorry for your experience. When you were planning your trip, there was no way that you could possibly have known that this would happen to you, or you would not have put those girls in that situation. Some people would have wondered why you would take a dozen girls into such a high crime area. I'm sure it never occured to you that anything could go wrong or you would not have put them in that situation.

Jake said in the paper that when they were planning this, he did not expect this much emphasis to be put on the gun. If he could have forseen the outcome, he would not have put any one in this situation.

I was not trying to say that Jake was Jesus. It is my belief as a Cristian your do strive to be Christ like. I do not believe Jake or any of the other youth leaders think they are Jesus. I didn't realize that was how I was making them sound. For that I am sorry.

I did not know there was a website for Won by One, until you mentioned it. I did go check it out. My guess is that the orginial ministry was not started by Jake. The website say it was fonded in 1971, which would have been when Jake was an infant. He probably didn't even have any thing to do with setting up the website. I don't know, but you could ask him.

If you have questions for Jake, call him at the Christian Center. If he is not there, he will call you back. There is no one that regrets the outcome of this more than Jake. Just as you are well aware, even with good intentions and high hopes, you never know how something will come out.

Jake CREATED and ANTICIPATED the trauma he inflicted as a tool to bring youth to Jesus.

I did not create any mess. And, I certainly did not anticipate a robbery ACROSS THE STREET from a police presinct. This was REAL -- not a FAKE creation of trauma. If I could have prevented it, I would have.

Jake had every opportunity to prevent that skit from happening but, instead, chose to create fear. Instead of protecting the youth left to his charge, he deliberately created an atmosphere of fear and trauma.

You can't even begin to compare the two and I'm thoroughly disgusted to think that you would even try.

Would you do this with, oh, say, COLUMBINE? Re-enact it as though it were real in order to PREPARE children for the possibility?

Shaking my head here. Drills are one thing -- children and adults are AWARE it's a drill. But faking the REAL thing? I just don't get it.

Gwen: How can you presume to know what the youth minister's intentions were? How do you know that the youth minister "deliberately created an atmosphere of fear and trauma." Did the minister project to you his exact intentions.

Doesn't a great deal of this remind anyone of the classic radio show "War of the Worlds" that aired a long, long time ago? It appears that there is some serious hysteria being created by some of the posters here.

Before you send your kids into a room with one of these guys, ask yourself the question: Where does this guy get the authority to speak for anyone else, much less, Jesus?

In my experience, you will find that 100% of these guys are pursuing a personal agenda that has very little to do with faith in anyone or anything except themselves. It's like the school principal who claimed to be a cop a few weeks ago -- people seeking power will make baseless claims in order to exert authority over other people. Some people are dumb enough to fall for it.

There was no reason to set off a firearm in a crowded room in today's society. This guy is lucky that somebody with a concealed carry permit didn't return fire. Stay away from him. He proved he shouldn't be trusted to be around kids, so take the lesson and learn from it.

Gwendolyn: don't know if you're still following this, but maybe here are some answers, per your request:
Jake apologized and admitted it went too far. The skit was supposed to last no more than 3-5minutes, but went 27 minutes. Jake has, publicly and privately, admitted being wrong about the decision to have the skit.
More personally: I am thankful for you. Your efforts to seek truth in this event are noble. Furthermore, I am thankful for you being involved in the lives of youth in a positive fashion, there is no greater calling in life than that of service. I hope this posting reaches you, and finds you well. Blessings to you and yours, and, again, thank you.